When the Baltimore & Ohio and the South Carolina Railroad (now part of the CSX and Norfolk-Southern Railway System) started carrying passengers and freight in the United States in 1830, the ties were of quarried stone. During the extremely hard winter of 1832, the quarries could not operate, and a bright young track foreman on the Camden & Amboy Railroad in New Jersey sent his track crew into the adjoining forest with axes. The wood crosstie was born.

In 1875, with the development of the wood preserving industry, the pressure-treated crosstie was introduced. A plant on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in Gautier treated the first ties, Mississippi.Treating plants proliferated around the turn of the century, enabling the utilization of almost all hardwoods and conifers as long-lasting crossties.

 By 1900, as the great railroad-building program neared completion, the railroad industry was installing 100 million tie per year. Tie production has fluctuated since then, depending upon demand. Demand dropped to under 50 million per year in the mid 30’s before surging during World War II. It then declined again, reaching a low point of 12 million ties in 1961. Average annual demand in recent years has been 15-20 million ties.

Less than 2% of all ties in use in the United States and less than 15% worldwide are made of materials other than wood. There have been a number of changes to improve the wood tie since its first use, however, the crosstie’s basic function remains unchanged.